


Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

by eversingingleaves



Series: Thing-A-Day-Rimo [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 15:45:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8452240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eversingingleaves/pseuds/eversingingleaves
Summary: The occupants of the Castle of Lions have questions- they have a need to understand, to know, to figure out their situations. These are their stories.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the "Thing-a-Day-Rimo"- in which I endeavor to write something (for-gods-sakes write ANYTHING) every day for the month of November. Most of these will be un-beta'd and unpolished and I hope you'll forgive me for that.
> 
> This is a character study based on the idea that each person has a main driving force behind their actions, and an attempt to identify that. Title stolen from the song of the same name by Chicago.

The thing about living in a magical science castle ship is that you’re never quite sure what’s around the next corner. It fascinated Lance, who viewed it like Hogwarts come to life. There’s a reason for whatever is happening- he had no idea what that reason is, and no real need to find out. He spent his time exploring the corners, the edges and wide spaces of the Castle, trying to learn its patterns. He wasn’t running- at least he told himself he wasn’t. 

 

Lance peppered Coran with questions-  _ Where does that passage lead? What does this button- oh wait I pressed it, nevermind- Where are we- where’s earth?- _ but often was too impatient to listen to the drawn-out response. Who had time for a six hour lecture when there was so much to DO? Certainly not Lance. He clambered up pylons, scaled walls, got lost in the ineffable intricacies of the Castle; it was all so  _ foreign _ and  _ new _ and  _ exciting _ . 

 

Pidge was the one who really dug deep into the code of the Castle. They needed to know  _ why is there heat shielding in the port-side storage locker _ and  _ why is that crystal BLUE of all colors- the chemical make-up should mean it was clear  _  and  _ why is Allura looking at me like that- I just popped out of the vent is all, DUH, what the heck- _ It was Pidge who figured out how to mess with the invisible maze- much to the consternation of Keith’s training regimen. Pidge, who only asked questions of themselves-  _  why- why- why- _ and gained the answers with increasing speed and it only made them want more.

 

If Pidge’s question was  _ why _ , Hunk’s question was  _ how. _ He explored cautiously, taking things apart from the seams inward- little things to tinker with at first-  _ how does this fit together _ and  _ how can I make this work the way I want it to _ and  _ how did I end up with  _ **_three extra screws?!_ ** _ \-  _ but he kept a steady pace of reverse-engineering. He took to fiddling with things during their strategy training sessions. It helped him think better, make clearer decisions if he had something concrete in his hands. If he could put it together, take it apart, put it back together but  _ better _ \- maybe that would make up for what he perceived as his deficiencies.  _ Maybe if I can engineer, they won’t notice my flying sucks. Maybe if I know  _ **_how_ ** _ the lions make Voltron, I can get it better. I can be better if I know how. _

 

Hunk was the one who recognized the Fraunhofer line, who re-wired a control panel while shots pinged over his head and kept up a steady stream of commentary, who couldn’t conceive-  _ how could you have never seen the stars? How is that  _ **_possible_ ** _? How do we save them?- _

 

Keith was a pointed weapon- a sword, sharp and true and ready to do what needed to be done. He spent hours upon hours in the training deck-  _ What do you need? What do you want? What can I do?-  _  pushing his body to exhaustion and beyond. He felt no push to explore, to see anything other than his own purpose; his fear drove him ever onward. He was determined to be what Voltron needed, what his team needed, anything other than what he’d been before. Keith was action itself, directed inward, directed outward, searching for  _ what what what _ needed to be  _ done _ . It caused friction with the more cautious paladins, sparks with the more impulsive; Keith was a fire that burned hot, a temper that flared.

 

_ Who am I- _ It was the first thought in Shiro’s head when he woke up in chains- in restraints- in jail cell and medical bay. It was taking him longer and longer to piece together what had happened to him, taking his brain longer to answer the question that haunted his dreams-  _  who am I- who have I become- who is with us-  _  and every time he couldn’t answer immediately filled the blank spaces in his memory with doubt. He knew how to train them, his fellow paladins; it was like a muscle that remembered command, remembered how to care for people. He could show them why strategy was important, where to attack, when to defend, what to do. He could try and let them in. Late nights on the command deck with Allura turned to team building outings with the Paladins, bonding and growing and watching them succeed. It all helped to build who he was now.

 

He’s never admit the fear curling in his belly, a silent snake that hissed that he’d never know who he was before, never know who he’d been after his capture, before his escape.

 

Allura was a princess out of time. A leader without followers, a leader with no people of her own but for the faithful Coran- who dealt with his own questions, his own sacrifice. Ten thousand years was a long time to be missing- a long time to miss the turning of the universe towards chaos and cruelty. Her question would always be when.  _ When did this happen? When did we give up- when did we lose this fight- _ and the one she would only admit in the quietest spaces of her own mind-  _ when can I go back home? _


End file.
